What Sharks are HIDING in the Mediterranean?

Join shark scientist Kristian Parton as he figures out exactly which shark species are hiding in the Mediterranean. Tune in to find out which of the four most dangerous sharks in the world are living in the Med.

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Shark Bytes is a youtube channel dedicated to bringing you all the latest news, research and information about sharks around the world! Kristian Parton is a current marine biologist and shark researcher who has spent many years working with sharks in the field and laboratory. Having a passion for sharks and rays from a young age, Kristian now wants to bring the weird and wonderful world of sharks to your screens at home.

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Twitter/X: @KjParton @SharkBytes1994
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Credits:
Shark Bytes Logo animation: George Vary
All content used is in conjunction with the creative commons license, no copyright infringement intended.

[hellboy]

I'm Spanish and have been diving since I was a child. I'm old enough to say that I have seen how the Mediterranean has become one big swimming pool. It is not a sea, it is a desert. It's sad, but that's how it is.

[cream]

Hello Kris, thank you so much for covering my video suggestion! This topic has been on my mind for quite a while now and the Internet wasn't helping sadly, but now all my questions regarding this issue are answered. Thank you so much!

[TheScarletView]

The last fatality in the Med was actually in 1989 in Piombino, Italy. Luciano Costanzo, a diver working on an underwater pipeline was taken and his body never recovered. His son and friend both witnessed the attack. There was suspicion shortly after that Coztanzo had been murdered for a life insurance policy but authorities discounted this due to the fact they found some of the articles he was using on the dive (weight belt, cylinder, a fin) which bore teeth marks commensurate with a bite from a large Great White.

I discussed this at length with Ian Fergusson (of the then Eurpoean Shark Research Bureau) in the years after the attack and we both agreed, as did Dr Leonard Compagno that in all likelihood, Costanzo was killed by a GW

[Cheeky-fingers]

My brother in law is Greek and a fisherman. 20 years ago he said there was a lot of Great White interactions in the fishing trade. The Government made it clear that these incidents where not to be reported or get publicity as it could effect tourism trade. Nowadays it is very rare for any sightings.

[lethalchicken]

I can't tell you how much I needed this today. My life is on the brink of falling apart, and there's nothing I can do now but wait and see. This video is a comfort. I love hearing a shark scientist discuss these animals and share insights into their habits, identifiers and populations. Also, looking up to realize you were holding a genuine shark jaw to illustrate your point really gave me a chuckle. Thanks again, Christian.

[jorgeperez]

I am from Spain and really love this type of videos talking about the sharks that live around my country.
Keep it up❤

[nekoizmase]

Living around Mediterranean and visiting almost every country in the Med, the only “commonly” seen potentially dangerous shark are Makos. They are pretty regular.

[andydavis]

I'm from Cyprus, in 1975 a friend in the navy said they caught a tiger shark.
My grandmother told me back around 1925 a "giant" shark was caught and hung up in the Harbour at Limassol - apparently many people went to see it. Personally I have never seen a shark there, only rays and remoras.
My father took a photo of a dorsal fin between Cyprus and Lebanon in 1960.

[TheRealTomLauda]

I remember when i was a kid, in the eighties, we were in Greece (Peloponnese) and one day, we were told beaches are closed because of a big tiger shark spotted in the region.

[elycassandra]

Yes! I was one of the people requesting a video about this. I’m so happy how fast you’ve covered this topic. 💙

[andrewamidala]

I was a professional diver in and around Malta in the early 1990's and there was a serious decline in marine life then. They had turned an old tug boat into an artificial reef called "the Rosie". We did some filming around there for a tv commercial and local divers warned us to always not hang around on the surface and slip in and out of the water as quietly as possible. To "not attract unwanted attention to ourselves" was the code word.

[madmrssally]

Great video! Sad to hear about such a decline in the marine ecosystem of the mediterranean. I would still love a video going over the differences between the shortfin and longfin Makos. They are often discussed interchangeably and I don’t always know which details are being attributed to which. How different are they really? Is there overlap in territories? How closely related are they? And so many more questions.

[kenpatton]

Several years ago(SEPT 2000), I was sent to Israel for some training from the new job I just landed. While staying at the hotel in Ashkelon I would visit the local marina to checkout the boats/yachts and to have dinner at one of the restaurants. One of the favorite things the locals were doing was monitoring a vary large female Tiger Shark that had made the marina her hangout. You could see her all the time. Then next thing you saw were several“pups“ as she had given birth. I was surprised no one had ever tried to catch her or any of the pups. But she didn‘t seem to bother anyone…but again no one went into the water either!!!

[ChristineSaveTheFish]

Finally: there is it! „Welcome back to another Episode of shark bytes.“ we missed this entry during your well deserved holidays 😊😂❤ just coming back from dive holidays on Elba I really appreciate this episode.🙏

[Ghenesa]

I'm Slovenian, but my family had country house in Savudrija (Croatia). So we spent like 2-3 month per year there, when Yugoslavia still existed. I witnessed shark attack in Savudrija around 1985, woman was bitten in lower part of the leg while swimming (water is shallow and gets progressively deep and then suddenly very deep water). She was dragged on the pier by a man (me and my father were fishing from this pier) and obviously my father dragged me off as soon as he realized what happened, not to see to much. But i did see she was bleeding quite bad, but her legs was there, if i remember correctly (i was around 10) it was more of a huge bite and no meat was taken off. I never again went into that water more then above knee high again. Many years later i encountered dolphin while swimming in Umag (town on the same coastline, so this attack was always in my mind) and i almost shat myself. To this day I don't really enjoy sea anymore.... :) Croatia is really beautiful, but not for me.

[andreafranceschini]

My wife's father is from Croatia and told me that when he was young (he is from the early '50) he saw a lot of shark, including a great white the same lenght of his boat (4-5 m) and a couple of shark right on the beaches near his home. The last one was probably more than 35 years ago 😅

[Lemon_N]

Sh*t!! Ex-pat Aussie 🇦🇺 living in GR 🇬🇷. I thought I was SAFE swimming in GR Mediterranean Sea 🙄 And I'd swim way out away from the shore bc there are no dangerous etc. .. For example, A dolphin swam with me at Korfos (Corinth, Peloponnese). Sorry, I don't want to see a shark 😱 bc I swim far out & nobody would see me to realise what happened & I'd bleed out before reaching t shore (assuming not fatally mauled or limbs bitten off). Looks like now I better swim 'defensively' like I did in Oz. Bc u never know ...

[stephanclemens]

You sceptically reference the "Exploration de l'Algerie" Book as a potential proof of Bull Sharks in the med but while the latin name "Carcharhinus leucas" indeed shows up it shows after "Requin blanc" And that happens to be the Great White. Otherwise they would have called it "requin-bouledogue" or "requin du Zambèze". Great Whites on the other hand are well known to be at home in the Meditarenean but Carcharodon Carcharias intererestingly enough doesn't show up in the list. So I think that the whole thing is just based on an observational or terminological error that happened to make it into the book.

[lepoutrepierre]

Parle trop vite pour pouvoir comprendre !

[deadsayty]

i think we done see them cause they live in deep waters